Self-aligning key guide for locks



, a 1,-674,595 H. H. HANTON SELF ALIGNING KEY GUIDE FOR LOCKS" Filed March 26, 1927 %E ai Patented June 19, 1928.

UNITED* STATES `HENRY H. HAN' JoN, 'OF xiiixnmsr nn,` PENNSYLVANIA.

SEIE-ALIGNING KEY GUIDE FOR mom;

p V Application filed March 26, 1927 s ria No'. 1722792.

This inventionrelates to looks, and more particularly to means enployed for guid'ng a key into position for looking or unlocking enga'gement with the looking neohani sm contained in' a suitable ease or enclosure having an opening therein for the insertion of a key.

Looks as heretofore' construeted with a roi tatable key-guide are subject to objecton be- ,cause of the trouble,"annoyance and inconr be restored to proper position before the key can be inserted. a

The objeots of my inventon 'are to ob- Viate the foregoin objeotions to looks with rotatable key-gui es as heretofore "constructed and to provide "a lock with a selfaligning key-guide that will maintain itself V .in a relatively fixed position under normal Conditions in alignment with an opening, in which the key is inserted foraotuat-ing the looking neohanisn and will be automatically `restore`d to normal position when thrown out of alignment in withdrawing the The invention' wilLfirst be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accoin'panying drawings, which are to be taken as apart of this speoification, and thenpointed out in the olaims at the end of the description( p In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a side View of a padlook einbodying my invention; the ease being partly broken away to show the inte- 'ior Construction and the looking inec'hanisin being partly indieated in dotted lnes;

Fig. 2 is an end View of the'case showing the self-aligning key-guide; V Fig. 3 is a transverse section on a slightly enlargled scale taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l 'an i Fig. 4 is a detail 'View partly in 'section illustrating a broken-away portion of the easingin whiohthe key-guide housed and enoircled by'a coiledspringwhi ch servesto restore theguide to normal position when thrownout of alignment.

In the illustrated embodment of ny in- Vention it is shown applied to a padloclg but v it will be understood of course that my improved self-aligning key-guide maj be applied to various kinds of looks other thajn padlocks; for example, cabinet looks, door looks, looks for trunks, suitloases' and bags, and' any kind of lock with the customary g I 1,6?4595- PATENT" OFFICE;

type of fiat key f requiring a key-guide 'through which the key may 'enter in alignment with an opening in which the key is "inserted for actuating the looking meohanm; the 'key-guide being held normally in position for the insertion of the key' and nalposition when thrown out of alignment r In sa d'drawngs, n which the same reference letters are used to denote oorrespondadapted to be'autonatically restored to norv ing'parts in difi'erentviews, an ordinary padlock is shown having 'a U -shaped shaokle inserted in holesin the case which is made in two parts ,or upper, and lower members A and A having marginal flanges'a and respeotively, adapted to rest one upon the other, as shown, and secured together by bolts or riVets in a niannei" well known to manufacturers and users of looks; said oase con- ,ta ning suitable looking mechanis'm for engagement with one or 'both l nbs of the shaokle so as to lock and hold the shaokle firinly looked to the case until released by means of a key adapted to aotuatethe looking mechanism to unlock ,the shaokle' The lockingneohanism as 'indioated in dotted V lines, nay inolude any suitable slding dog or pawl such as commonly used in looks of the kind shown, adapted to-engage 'a notch or notches in a linb or liinbs of the shaokle B and to be thrown outof engagenent therewith for unlocking the shaokle' by means of a key inserted in thekey-guideC so as to'enter an aligned slot or soo-ket in a bushing 6 which is rotatably Secured within the casing and has formed thereon means for engagement with the dog so thatby partial rotati'on of the bushing the dog will be moved out of en- ,gag'ement with the shaokle; spring-actuated the adjaoent limb of the shaokle and each' having a recess to receive a vertically disposed oblong projeotion b on the bushing 79 so that when the "bushing is turned-by `the key against the resistance of a spring acting thereon, the projection 6 will exert a camlike action on the sliding dogs and move them out of engagement with the shackle and when the key is withdrawn the bushing will be caused to rotate in the opposite direction and return the dogs into looking engagement with the shackle; suitable means being provided within the casing to limit the rotation of the bushing in a backward direction and arrest its movement the instant the slot in the bushing is brought into alignment with the key-opening through the keyguide. The looking mechanism may be of the form indicated, or any suitable form such as commonly used inlocks of various kinds may be emp-loyed, and as the looking mechanism per se 'forms no part of my present invention, further description thereof appears to be unnecessary. As shown, the keyguide'C, through which the key enters for the purpose of holding the key in position when being passed in and out of the lock and which forms the axis or bearing on which the key revolves during the operation of unlocking the lock, is in the form of a circular' body rotatably confined and'housed within the case A-A between the rear end wall thereof and the ends of vertically disposed longitudinal bars orfianges a and a for-med on' or Secured to the inner sides 'of the casing members A and A respectively, at one side of the key-guide or a centrally disposed opening through which the key passes into the slot or socket in the bushing b similar vertically disposed flanges or equivalent means being provided at the other side of said key-guide or centrally disposed opening so as in effect to provide a housing :tor such means as arecommonly employed in co-operative relation to the key to prevent the lock from being unlocked by a key unadapted for co-operation with the combination used to open the lock. The rotatable body or key-guide C has an oblong slot c therethrough adapted to receive the customary type of fiat key; protuberanees or projections 0 being formed on opposite sides of the slot c and adapted to fit into grooves in a key having longitudinal grooves spaced apart so as to permit the projections to enter the grooves when the ky is inserted for' unlocking the lock. Said body also has a recess 0 of arcuate form in its periphery and is encrcled by a coiled spring E which has its inner end bent substantially at right angles thereto so as to provide a toothv or projection which is inserted in a hole in the circular body co-incident with the recess 0 therein, while the free end e of the spring impinges against the inner side of the casing so as to resist rotation of said body and yieldingly hold it with the key-opening therethrough normally in alignment with the slot in the bushing b so that when the keycuate recess 6 in said circular body, so as to provide a shoulder or abutment 'a with which the shoulder formed hy the recessin said circular body Will contact when said body is rotated by the recoil 'of the spring and prevent rotary movement thereof beyond the point at which the key-opening is brought into alined position.`

While I preferably employ a coiled spring for holding the key-guide in normal position for convenience in assembling the parts and because of its adaptability to locks with keyguides of the form shown, springs of a different type may be used, and various changes may be made in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited in the appended claims to the specific Construction illustrated and described.

The advantages of my improvement over key-guides as heretofore constructed are obvious. `In using 'rotatable key-guides as heretofore constructed, when the key is withdrawn the key-guide is usually slightly rotated and will remain with the slottherein at an angle to the slot or opening provided for the insertion of the key to unlock the looking mechanism, whereas in using my improvement, the key-guide being arranged and held normally with the key-opening or slot therein in alignment with the opening i in which the key is inserted for actuating the looking mechanism, a suitable key may be inserted without the annoyance and inconvenienre incident to the necessity for turning the key-guide as heretofore conv structed so as to bring the key-opening or slot therein into proper alignment with the opening in the looking mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and 'desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: i

1. In combination with a loekcontaining mechanism adapted to be actuated by means of a key inserted in an opening therein, a 1

rotatable key-guide having a slot extending therethrough for inserting a key; said slot being arranged in alignment with said opening, and means for yieldingly holding the slot in said' guide normally in alignment with said opening; said means servingto automatically restore the guide ,to normal positionwhen thrown out of alignment.

2. In combination with a lock containing key-actuated mechanism, a rotatable keyguide having the opening therethrough for inserting a key arranged in alignment with an opening in which the key is inserted for actuating said mechanism, and means for yieldingly holding said key guide in a re1a- 'tively fixed position; said means serving to automatically `restore the key-guide`to normal position when thrown out of alignment.

3. In a lock, the combination with looking mechanism, of a rotatable key-guide having a key-opening therein arranged normally in alignment with an opening in which the key is inserted .for actuating said mechanism to lock or unlock the same, and means for yieldingly holding said key-guide in aligned position, said means serving to return the guide to normal position when thrown out of alignment. a i

4, A lock oomprising a case containing suitable looking mechanismadapted to be actuated by a key for looking and unlocking the same, and a rotatable body havingan oblong slot therethrough for inserting and guiding a key to lock or unlock said mechanism; said slot being normally in alignment with an opening in which the key is inserted for act-uating said mechanisnn and means for yieldingly holding said body in a relatively fixed position; said means serving to return said body to normal position when i thrown out of such position.

5. A padlock comprising-a case enclosing key-actuated looking mechanism and having spaced holes therein in which is inserted a r slidable shackle adapted to' releasably en- 'gage said meohanism, a rotatable key-guide having a ke'y-opening'therein arranged normally in ali gnment with an opening in which the key is inserted for actuating said mechanism, and means for automatically restoring said key-'guide to normal position When the key-opening therein is throWn out of alignment. f

6. A padlock comprising a case 'enclosing suitable looking mechanism and having a slidable shackle inserted in holes therein and relcasably engaging said mechanism, a rotatable body having an oblong slot therein for inserting and guidin'g a key; said slot being arranged normally in alignnent with an opening in which the key is inserted for actuating said mechanism, and means for yieldingly holding said' body in normal position; said ;means serving to automatically restore said body to normal position when thrown out of such position.

r 7. In a look, the combination with looking meohanism, of a rotatable, key-guide having' a key-opening thei-ein arranged normally in alignment with' an opening in which the key is inserted for actuating said mechanism to lookor unlock the same', and means for yeldingly holding said key-guide in aligned position and returning it to* the latter position when thrown out of alignment; said means including a spring which serves to yieldingly `resist movement in one direction and a stop for limiting the return movement to aligned position. i

8. A padlock comprising a case containing suitable looking mechanism, including a ro'- tatable device and means actuated thereby for looking and unlocking a shackle slidably fitted in openings in the case, an independently rotatable body having an oblong slot therein for 'inserting and guiding a key therethrough; said rotatable device having ai I recess therein adapted in normal position to receive the end-portion of a key protruding thereinto through the slot in said' body; andmeans for yieldingly holding said body, with the slot therein normally in' alignment with the recess in said device; said means being adapted to`return said body and device to normal position when thrown out of algn-` ment.

9. A padlock conprising a case containing suitable looking mechanism, including a rotatable device and means actuated thereby for looking and unlooking a shackle slidably fitted in openings in the case, an independently rotatable body having an oblong slot therein for inserting and guiding a key therethrough; said rotatable device having a recess therein adapted in normal position to receive the end-portion of a key protruding thereinto through the slot in said body; and means for yieldingly holding said device and body with said slot and recess normally in alignment and' returning them to normal position When thrownout of alignment.

. In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

HENRY H. HANTON. 

